As of January 2012, a whole year has passed with no new cases of polio reported in India, a country where only recently it was endemic. This milestone raises hopes that polio will finally be eradicated. India’s Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad called this achievement “a giant leap in a short span of two years.”

Until now, India was part of the so-called “PAIN group” of countries (short for Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Nigeria) in which polio is endemic. India’s latest assault on the disease began in 1995 with the launch of a program under which nearly 172 million children received the oral poliovirus vaccine. By 1999, one of the three strains of the polio virus, P2, was eradicated in India. Over the past decade, new vaccines were introduced that were effective against the other two polio strains, P1 and P3.

More than 700 cases of polio were reported in 2009. But in 2010, only 42 cases were reported and then only one case in 2011. If India can remain polio-free–with no new cases for three consecutive years–it will be certified a polio-free country. There remains the possibility, however, of further detections through laboratory investigations, as well as the risk of the virus transmitting over the border–particularly with Pakistan–or of children contracting the virus through immunizations.

Last month, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare declared that in 2012 the country would intensify routine immunization efforts. This will involve sending out large groups of health workers to immunize the 40 percent of children throughout India who are still unprotected by the vaccine. It is difficult for many to envision deploying millions of health workers to destroy one disease, especially given human resource shortages in India’s health system.

Inspired by India’s feat, the Director of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, recently called for global adaptation of India’s immunization program in an attempt to eradicate polio worldwide. Hamid Jafari, who manages the National Polio Surveillance Project for the World Health Organization believes this is closest the world has come to global eradication of polio. India’s Health and Family Welfare Minister Azad is also optimistic. “We are excited and hopeful, at the same time, vigilant and alert,” he said.

Source:
bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16715392

Image sources:
article.wn.com
newstopnight.in
msnbc.msn.com
polioeradication.org
health-healths.com

Video source:
voanews.com

Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects nearly four hundred thousand people in the United States alone. Its symptoms can include the loss of motor skills, sensation, bladder control, vision, and intellectual abilities. The reason for these symptoms lies within the fatty, insulating layer around nerve fibers known as the myelin sheath, which allows for the quick transmission of signals between nerve cells. In MS older patients, the ability to regenerate myelin tends to decrease, leading to permanent loss of nerve fibers. A new study by scientists at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard University, and the University of Cambridge (U.K.) gives hope that this process may be reversed by introducing younger cells. 

Using a surgical technique, researchers introduced a demyelinating injury to the spine of older mice, and then introduced a stream of white blood cells from a young mouse. The results successfully showed that an influx of macrophages–a type of immune cell that engulfs and destroys pathogens and debris–cleared away damaged myelin and rejuvenated old stem cells, which began regenerating myelin in the old mouse’s spinal cord. The researchers think this therapy could prove useful in reversing the effects of MS.

“We know this debris inhibits regeneration, so clearing it up is important,” explained team member Amy Wagers of Harvard University. “Aging impairs regenerative potential in the central nervous system. This impairment can be reversed, however, suggesting that the eventual development of cell-based or drug-based interventions that mimic the rejuvenation signals found in our study could be used therapeutically.”

Wagers is an associate professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard and a researcher at Joslin. She co-led the study with Professor Robin Franklin, who is also the director of the MS Society’s Cambridge Centre for Myelin Repair at the University of Cambridge.

“This means that, in theory, regenerative therapies will work throughout the duration of the disease,” stated Franklin. “Specifically, it means that demyelination therapies do not need to be based on stem cell transplantation since the stem cells already present in the brain and spinal cord can be made to regenerate myelin, regardless of a person’s age.”

Age increases the challenges in treating multiple sclerosis, creating more and more debilitating health issues for the patient. Because MS spans a lifetime, and remyelination decreases with age, the possibility for new, regenerative therapies based on this discovery is very promising.

Although this therapy is not yet approved for human study, you can learn more the current disease modifying options from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s YouTube channel, which has an extensive library of informative videos like this:

Sources:
jpost.com/Health/Article.aspx?id=252839
newscientist.com/article/mg21328475.400-ms-damage-washed-away-by-stream-of-young-blood.html

Image source:
life-in-spite-of-ms.com

Jeff Hardick received a Christmas miracle this past holiday season. After 3 years of “excruciating burning pain” in his back, he became the second person in the United States to receive a spinal cord stimulator implant that blocks pain signals before they reach the brain. He is now pain free.

In 2003, Hardick injured his back while on his job, where he worked with sheet metal on a hydraulic press. He received medication and was back returned to work within a few weeks. Then a second injury required back surgery, which was followed by yet a third injury, which ultimately caused him so much continual pain he was forced to use a wheelchair.

Even after consulting several specialists, he was unable to find a cure for his pain. His wife worried that he would have a pain attack, which often left him unconscious, while she away at work.

“I was scared to death to open the door,” Terri Hardick said. “Where was I going to find him?”

“I had given up all hope,” Hardick stated, regarding his outlook at that time.

But a lucky break for Hardick came when he ran into an old colleague at the grocery and learned about spinal implants. Luck was on his side again, as St. Luke’s Hospital in Lehigh Valley, PA had recently brought on board Dr. Steven Falowski, a neurosurgeon who works with Parkinson’s patients and specializes in chronic pain.

Once the RestoreSensor Neurostimulator implant received FDA approval, its manufacturer, Medtronic, approached Dr. Falowiski to see if there was a patient that would benefit from the it. Hardick was a match, and he agreed to the surgery.

The RestoreSensor Neurostimulator was implanted into the gluteus muscle of the right buttock. While it does not fix the original injury, the pocket watch-sized device blocks pain signals before they reach the brain, which means that Hardick is now pain free.

Just weeks before the procedure, Hardick could only sit in his wheelchair, unable to move while he dealt with stabs of pain that reached “at least a 10″ (out of 10) on the pain scale; now he is looking forward to strolling on the beach with his wife Terri later this year.

Source:
baltimoresun.com/health/mc-bethlehem-pain-relief-20120105,0,1963820.story

Image source:
articles.mcall.com
mystlukesonline.org
lehighvalleylive.com

Stevie Pearson, a 19-year-old soccer player from the U.K. is asking locals to back the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s fundraising events on February 29^th. This leap year, the organization will be holding a variety of fundraising events to fund research and cures for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a genetic condition that causes muscle waste over time. Children–all boys–born with this condition develop and learn to walk, only to have their muscles begin to deteriorate. By age 12, most children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy lose the ability to walk. By the late teens, the condition becomes life threatening, as muscles around the chest and heart waste away.

Stevie Pearson attends West Herts College and just recently returned from Paris, where he won the silver medal while competing with England’s powerchair soccer team at the World Championships. When asked about his condition, Stevie replied by saying, “Living with muscular dystrophy brings difficult challenges every day, but I try not to let it hold me back.”

In hopes that others will go the extra mile, the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign is holding some unusual fundraising events. One of the most challenging events involves 100 recruits making a 10,000-foot skydive. The number was chosen to recognize the 100 children born each year in the U.K. with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Employers in Hertfordshire are also being asked to raffle off a day’s paid vacation leave. To enter, employees will donate five pounds to the Campaign for a chance to win. The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign has been providing funds for research into treatment and cures of MD for over 50 years.The London and Hertfordshire Fundraising Manager for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign made a plea to the local community.

“Anybody can get involved and make the extra day count this year by holding a fundraising event and helping us to fund vital research, which could change the lives of hundreds of people across Hertfordshire,” stated Laura Watts, the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s London and Hertfordshire Volunteer Fundraising Manager. “By taking on the challenge of a life-time and jumping out of a plane for us, persuading the boss to raffle off a day’s annual leave, or even organizing an event for friends and family on February 29, you will be help to support people like Stevie by taking us one step closer to a cure for muscular dystrophy.”

Source:
watfordobserver.co.uk/news/9460743.Disabled_footballer_s_plea_to_make_this_leap_year_s_extra_day_count/
muscular-dystrophy.org/news/5037_making_today_count_in_2012
muscular-dystrophy.org/get_involved/fundraising_events/4774_make_today_count

Image source:
muscular-dystrophy.org

While still in high school, Katherine Bomkamp came up with the idea of a prosthetic device that eases phantom limb pain in amputees. With determination and a bit of creativity, she demonstrated that a good idea trumps technical knowledge, and that nothing is impossible with a dose of determination.

It all started in Maryland, where Bomkamp was a high school student at a magnet school. Her father is a disabled Air Force veteran, and while in a waiting room at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Bomkamp listened as amputee soldiers from Afghanistan complained about phantom pain. Phantom pain is a condition that causes pain in the area of the missing limb. Normally, people experiencing phantom pain are prescribed antipsychotics and barbiturates, which are both highly addictive and very costly.

“They would tell me their stories, and phantom pain kept coming up,” stated Bomkamp “So I wanted to see if I could eliminate the need for those drugs holistically.”

Although she lacked engineering and medical expertise, when her chemistry teacher announced a school wide science fair, Bomkamp decided that her lack of knowledge wasn’t a roadblock to creating a solution. Thinking back to the soldiers she met at the clinic, she decided to try to find a way to give back to those who gave so much.

“My thought process was: When I pull a muscle, I apply heat to it,” explained Bomkamp. “If I applied the same concept to treating phantom pain, I thought that could work.”

Her approach was to email engineering professors at local universities and ask them for help. Their response was overwhelming, and after several offers Bomkamp chose nearby University of Maryland. Every Friday she traveled to the college campus to meet with Professor Gilmer Blankenship and lab manager Jay Renner, both with the Electrical and Computer Engineering department.

“They taught me electrical engineering from the bottom up — electrical programming, heat wiring,” she stated. “Basically, everything, they had to teach me.”

Together, they came up with a crude prototype for the Pain Free Socket, using heated socks for a heat source. After the prototype, Bomkamp continued her grass roots approach to find someone who would take her seriously and help build the prosthetic. The task was challenging, as most prosthetics cost over $15,000. According to Bomkamp, many of the companies she reached out to dismissed her offhand by saying, “This won’t work, you’re just a kid, don’t waste my time.”

Determination prevailed, and with the help of Jake Godak of Chico, CA prosthetic supply company Cascade, she acquired a custom built socket and leg. In the newer prototype, ribbing cable replaced the heated socks and a thermostat was added to control the amount of heat received from the device.

Now a student at West Virginia University, Bomkamp has started her own company, where she is working on new prototypes for the socket, including one that can be controlled by a cell phone application. The device will begin testing after her patent is approved, and she is in negotiations with companies for licensing rights once the Food and Drug Administration approves her final prototype.

What seemed like an impossible feat was made possible with the naive determination of a high school girl and the assistance of engineering professionals. Now, Bomkamp hopes to receive a small percentage of the profits as royalties if her device proves to be successful.

Source:
nytimes.com/2011/11/27/business/dont-know-how-well-find-someone-who-does.html

Image Source:
nmoe.org

Andy Campbell is a British adventurer who refuses to let a little thing like needing a wheelchair get in the way of his dreams. In fact, Andy is about to embark on a journey like no othe–circumnavigating the world using his arms. His journey will take two years and involve his wheelchair, a paraglider, and a kayak. The trip is a fundraiser to support a non-profit group dedicated to making outdoor adaptive equipment available to those with disabilities who could not otherwise afford it.

Eight years ago, Andy fell during a rock climbing expedition and since then has had to rely on a wheelchair. Despite the injury, Andy regularly rock climbs, skis, kayaks, paraglides, and scuba dives. But disabled athletes have more than their disabilities to keep them from pursuing outdoor sports. The average off-road wheelchair comes with a price tag of $3,000, and an adaptive climbing harness costs about $1,400.

Realizing that most people cannot afford adaptive gear, Andy is setting off on a two-year journey that will begin in his home city of London. He will travel 30,000 miles before returning home. His plan has him crossing Europe and Asia with his wheelchair, paraglider, kayak, and two assistants to help with the most difficult terrain. Then he will fly across the Pacific Ocean to North America, where he will begin the second leg of his journey from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico. That route will have him kayaking the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers to reach the Gulf, and then roll his specially designed wheelchair down the Pan-American Highway.

Andy’s goal is to raise $1.54 million for his new charity, the Chutkara Initiative. Funds raised from his adventure will be used to provide adaptive gear to others that may want to follow in his path. You can follow his adventure through his website (pushingthelimits.com), or cheer him on through Facebook (facebook.com/andycampbell.13) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/andy_campbell).

Source:
gadling.com/2012/01/08/british-adventurer-plans-to-circumnavigate-the-globe-in-a-wheelc/

Image source:
pushingthelimits.com

It’s easy to assume that the rights and benefits available to disabled citizens in the United States might be the norm, but in some areas of the world, a disability is a life sentence–a “crime” punishable by the loss of basic rights like education, employment or community participation. In many countries, a disabled family member is considered a burden or a shame, or the community lacks any resources for those with disabilities to lead productive lives. But many countries are working to end stereotypes and provide accessibility and opportunity to all of their citizens. Here are a few countries that, with the help of volunteers, advocates, and non-profit organizations, are taking action to ensure that all their citizens have equal rights.

India
India has made leaps and bounds in recent years with the introduction of Sarve Shiksha Abhiyan, or Education for All. The government implemented the Right to Education Act in 2010, which makes discrimination in the schools illegal.

Despite the laws in place and the country’s goal of providing education for all children, there are still shortcomings that need to be addressed. For example, Braille libraries and audio books are scarce. Also, a lack of teachers trained to instruct children with disabilities means that many in rural areas are still not properly served.

Cameroon
New initiatives have been started to raise awareness of disability rights in this west African nation. Cameroon has many more centers and rehabilitation services available for those with various disabilities than it did just ten years ago. In 2010, Cameroon passed a law that addresses protection for people with disabilities.

However, only 2% of children with disabilities receive a formal education in Cameroon. The classrooms are not accessible, and there is a lack of trained educators to accommodate students with disabilities. Finding healthcare for disability related health problems is challenging as well.

Togo
The government of Togo has been making considerable progress in their laws regarding equal rights. The Ministry for Social Action has a department to represent people of the country that have disabilities. In 2004, a law was passed that gave social protection to disabled people. Last March, Togo ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Social efforts have been made by non-government groups to raise awareness, and these efforts have been well received, providing a more open-minded community environment.

While the laws in place are a great start, improvement is still needed to change attitudes toward the disabled in Togo. An agricultural community where many work in the fields, it retains a social stigma toward  those with disabilities.

Burundi
Organizations like Handicap International and the Burundi Disabled People’s Organisations Network have been working diligently to raise awareness and change people’s perception of disabilities in this tiny African nation, one of the poorest in the world. Less than a generation ago, children with disabilities (referred to as ibimuga, or “broken pots”) were hidden by their families, so that the community would not consider their families cursed.  But in 2010, the government began funding rehabilitation centers and income-generating projects for disabled citizens.

Burundi still has no laws or policies to ensure the rights or well-being of those with disabilities. While private organizations are working to assist Burundians, little is being done beyond their efforts. A telling example of this: the office in the government department that assists the disabled is located on the 3^rd floor of a building with no elevator.

What’s Needed?
Although many organizations and governments look for financial assistance to improve the lives of people living with disabilities worldwide, there are also other ways to help these countries. Nations that provide financial aid to these governments can press them to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and can include the needs of the disabled in their diplomatic negotiations as well.

Source:
guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/dec/15/disability-voices-development

Image sources:
guardian.co.uk
un.org

Blogger Jacqueline Geller recently posed a question to readers on the site ComplexityGaming.com: “Is game accessibility something that should be discussed more often within the video game industry?” We wonder, why it isn’t? It’s not that accessible gaming is not mainstream, thus unknown to most gamers. As video game popularity grows, so does the interest in accessible gaming, and developers have definitely taken notice.

According to Media Access Australia, there are mainstream gaming options and new access initiatives that allow gamers, regardless of ability, to enjoy interactive gaming. Mainstream games such as Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo and Sony PlayStation 3 offer a variety of gaming platforms tailored to players with specific needs. Many games, such as Dragon Age: Origins, consider accessibility as part of their design.

In 2009, AbleGamers.com presented video game developer Bioware with the “Mainstream Accessibility Award” for Dragon Age: Origins, giving the game a 9.8 out of 10 on their rating scale. Accessibility features include multiple levels of subtitles, the ability to use either the keyboard or both mouse buttons to control the characters, the ability to pause the game quickly regardless of the battle (for cognitive impairments), and easy to read, colorblind-friendly fonts. The only issue with the original game was small fonts, and the company immediately addressed the issue so that vision impaired players would have ease of play as well. Few companies go as far above and beyond to make sure that the gaming community is open to all players, regardless of disabilities or impairments.

Other games can be modified to be accessible, such as AudioQuake, which is accessible to players who are visually-impaired or blind. AudioQuake was the first publicly available, mainstream, first-person shooter game that was accessible for the blind and vision-impaired. Today, AudioQuake development has been turned over to the community for development.

There’s more than enough accessible gaming to warrant more visibility in gaming communities and leagues, and there are, in fact, some online communities that focus on accessible gaming. Those gaming communities include: AbleGamers (ablegamers.com), SpecialEffect’s accessible GameBase (gamebase.info), Deaf Gamers (deafgamers.com), Assistive Gaming (assistivegaming.com), and the International Game Developers Association’s Game Accessibility Special Interest Group, or IDGA GASIG for short (igda-gasig.org), which provides news, reviews, and information about the latest accessible games.

While it’s good to know that there are places in cyberspace where gamers with disabilities can talk about the newest game, it would be even better if such gamers could go on any gaming community and hang out or join gaming leagues without feeling out of place. Hopefully, it’s only a matter of time.

For more stories from our blog on accessible gaming, see also:

• Xbox Kinect Can Work for Gamers in Wheelchairs
• Dragon Age: Origins Wins Accessible Game of the Year Award
• Video Game Controllers for Quadriplegics
• New Web Games for the Disabled

Source:
complexitygaming.com/news/3130/
mediaaccess.org.au/digital-technology/accessible-gaming
accessiblegaming.info

Image source:
multiplayerblog.mtv.com

Video sources:
lepmis.co.uk
ablenetinc.com

On a glacial ridge overlooking 1,400 acres of forest and wetlands of Treehaven in Tomohawk, WI, Meg Lynch and several other University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students are out and about in the snow-covered forest, learning to identify and preserve wolf tracks. In the past, Meg would likely not have been able to participate in the field study portion of her biology program. But a grant has made possible the purchase of a new, all-terrain wheelchair with four-wheel drive that easily tackles the brush and snow.

“I’m grateful to have this chair, because I wouldn’t be here without this chair,” stated Meg, who playfully calls herself “Megatron” when she is in the all-terrain wheelchair. In the past, Meg had to rely on walkers and wheelchairs that just could not handle the field and forest requirements of her biology program.

UW-Whitewater is proud of being accessible to all students. Last year an annual two-week field trip to Yellowstone National Park included several wheelchair users. Whitewater faculty and staff utilized portable walkways and other adaptive equipment so the students could participate outside with their fellow students.

In Treehaven, the class is learning how to track and account for wolves in their natural environment. Wolf expert Dr. Jim Halfpenny is assisting Professor Dr. George Clokey in giving the students an extraordinary opportunity to learn valuable field techniques. Dr. Halfpenny specializes in this type of work, and came from Yellowstone to help with the project.

After the training, the students will be helping the Department of Natural Resources with a wolf survey in Cable, WI to determine how many wolves there are in the state. “It’s certainly nice to have a young bunch of students from the university working on these. As we do go forward to delisting wolves, we know we’ll have a cadre of trained people out there,” added Halfpenny.

Meg is not quite sure she will pursue fieldwork post-graduation, but she is looking forward to reviving her “Megatron” role as she heads to Yellowstone for a similar ecology course this summer.

Source:
wjfw.com/stories.html?sku=20120104222342

Image sources:
wjfw.com
ylwstone.com

Recently, Northwestern Medicine researchers discovered a mutated gene that causes the breakdown in the recycling system for cells in the brain and spinal cord that causes ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease). Now they have done it again, finding yet a second gene that may help lead to treatments for those living with the disease.

Patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease have proteins that build up abnormally in the motor neurons of the spinal cord and cortical and hippocampal neurons of the brain. In a healthy system, there is a recycling process that removes and replaces damaged proteins. Just a few months ago, the researchers found that the mutated gene ubilquillin2 was a problem, and the new research finds that another gene, sequestosome1, is also at fault. These two broken pathways cause the abnormal buildup of damaged proteins and the degeneration of the neurons in patients with ALS.

“Now that we have two bad players, it shines more light on this broken pathway,” says Dr. Teepu Siddique, a professor at the Davee Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurosciences at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “This gives us a clear target to develop drug therapies to try to fix this problem. It strengthens our belief that this broken system is at the heart of ALS.”

While this is great news for those with Lou Gehrig’s, it also may have a positive impact on treating other neurodegenerative diseases characterized by damaged proteins, such as Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and Parkinson’s disease.

Source:
dddmag.com/Lou-Gehrig-Culprit-Found112311.aspx

Image source:
alsn.mda.org